Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is a program hosted by college campuses in which students use their traditional vacation to serve the community locally, domestically, or internationally. There are 101 recognized and accredited Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the United States (National Center for Education Statistics,…

Understanding the weight of words and how they are used as signifiers of social and political ideas became important during the Transatlantic Seminar -- a four-day seminar organized by Fulbright Germany and the Leibniz Association, in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C -- and a glossary of sorts resulted. In exploring…

This article examines community-driven adult environmental learning in a volunteer watershed stewards program. We look for evidence of elements that portray steps toward "concientización"--the process of individuals and communities directing their own learning in nonhierarchical ways. Leveraging two theories from the learning sciences…

Many talented students in under-resourced schools do not reach their full potential. Research shows that by sixth grade, children born into poverty have likely spent 6,000 fewer hours learning than their middle-class counterparts. Higher Achievement, an intensive summer and after-school program, aims to close that learning gap. It offers…

This paper examines the feasibility of developing a new Master Volunteer training program to help communities adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Traditional models of volunteer training programs, such as the Cooperative Extension Master Volunteer peer-to-peer learning model, are based in part on Diffusion Theory. The existing…

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) supports mentoring for children and youth from disadvantaged circumstances through several of their programs. CNCS believes that caring and capable adults can make a critical difference in the lives of children and youth in need. Mentoring is a proven method to ensure students complete…

A growing number of U.S. institutions are recognizing the importance of reaching out to and involving alumni in meaningful ways--so much so that it's encoded as a specific campaign goal. But, like fundraising goals, alumni engagement goals are not realized easily, overnight, or just because they're committed to paper. Lasting engagement takes…

Getting called into the boss's office isn't always fun. Memories of trips to the school principal's office flash through one's mind. But the day last year that the author was called in to meet with their division vice president turned out to be a very good day. Executives at his company, Microsoft, had noticed the program he created in his spare…

An interactive mapping project is revolutionizing the way crises are reported and managed, and is spotlighting the value of citizen journalism. The project, called Ushahidi, which means testimony in Swahili, uses crowdsourcing (gathering information from a large number of people) to map crisis information. This crisis mapping tool has since been…

Quality schoolyards provide opportunities for the physical challenges, exercise, sensory play, fantasy play, organized sports, and unsupervised free play that allow for healthy, well-rounded development. Schoolyards should be safe places where children practice social skills and develop an appreciation for the feelings of others and the…

The paper examines the development of expertise and the multidimensional forces at work in the process. A qualitative study involving 12 participants at four museums found that expertise development is a cyclical and fluid process and impacted by content, context, and audience. Two areas comprised the focus of this research: (1) the process of…

Outlook is the monthly newsletter for the Council for American Private Education (CAPE). Each issue contains information relating to private education such as: new legislation and regulations, the most recent research, court rulings, national trends, federal initiatives, private school news briefs, and more. This issue contains the following…

This article describes an education program initiated by African American prisoners in the Airway Heights Correction Center in Airway Heights, Washington. The purpose of the program was to help the inmates to make productive use of their time while incarcerated and to help lessen the high return rate of African American men to the prison. Although…

The National Capital Region (NCR) is home to more than one-and-a-half million children and youth (ages birth through 24 years). Although the NCR is known as a place with a highly transient population, if history is any guide, many of these young people will remain in this region and fundamentally shape the quality of life--not only for themselves,…

This exploratory study examined the involvement of Chinese immigrant parents in children's elementary and secondary education. Participants were 29 low-income, urban parents of public school children working primarily in the hospitality sector. Parents were interviewed about their academic expectations, knowledge of school performance, parent…